Apparatus for expressing oil from oil bearing materials



July 27, 1943- R. T. ANDERSON 2,325,357

APPARATUS FOR EXPRESSING GIL FROM OIL BEARING MATERIALS Original Filed Aug. 1, 1936 COOLER;

Mun/n53. Qlmbizmow Patented July 27, 1943 APPARATUS FOR EXPRESSING OIL FROM OIL BEARING MATERIALS -Raymond Tuttle Anderson, Berea, Ohio, assignor to The V. D. Anderson Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Original application August 1,1936, Serial No. 93,907. Divided and this application August 14,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1940, Serial No. 352,628

they do when the temperature is high, greater iclaiins.

colored oil from such proteinaceous materials,

by use of mechanical presses.

In a broad sense, the invention comprises a press in which the oil hearing material is subjected to high compression to express the oil. Working in conjunction with said press is means for subjecting the body of the press to the action of a cooling medium, such as oil, to lower the colored or darkened to such an extent as to render it unsuitable for certain uses. For instance, prime crude soya bean oil must be under 130 yellow and 36red, while the trade demands that it be as closeto 120 yellow and 24 red as is possible. These colors are determined by the Lovibond tintometer, which is a colorimeter for comparing the color of a liquid with the standard.

coloring solution on a series of tinted slides.

I have found that by utilizing a press of the type shown in letters Patent No. 1,773,771, issued to me under date of August 26, 1930, or presses of the same general type, wherein a plurality of separated worms or screws are mounted upon a shaft within a press barrel having small openings in the wall thereof, combined with means for retarding the outflow of the compressed material from which the oil has been expressed, and

subjecting the exterior of the press-mechanism, or more specifically the barrel of the press as well as the feed chute leading into the intake of the shell or barrel, to the action of a cooling medium, I can produce oil of the desired quality.

Not only is a superior oil produced, but owing to the'fact that the proteins of the material undergoing treatment do not become as fluid as pressure may be exerted upon the mass without forcing such proteins outwardly through the passages or openings formed in the barrel for the- The cake which is forced from the barrel past the choke has a lower oil content than would otherwise obtain, hence a greater yield of oil is produced through the lowering of the temperature of the press and of the material passing therethrough. The cake is also of lighter color than-that which passes from a press which is uncooled.

- Various media may be employed for bathing the exterior of the press structure, so long as they do not contaminate the expressed oil.

The present application is directed to the use of the preferred medium, namely oil and particularly oil which has been expressed from the material under treatment. It is usually necessary that it be cooled after it is expressed and prior to its being showered over the press structure. The oil lowers the temperature of the press and particularly the barrel bars, and holds the temperature of the mass being forced through the press at the desired value. What is perhaps more important is that .the oil in flowing over the press barrel removes the foots, which are expelled from the barrel along with the oil. This keeps the exterior of the press barrel free of any accumulation, allowing the expressed oil to flow outwardly unimpeded and removing from the surface of the press barrel material which other: wise would have a tendency to insulate the structure against full action of the temperature lowering medium.

One embodiment of the apparatus capable of directing the cooling oil to and over the pressing mechanism is shown in the annexed drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, with parts broken away, of so much of a press structure as is necessary to illustrate the means employed to shower or bathe the press barrel with oil;

Fig. 2 is a. transverse sectional view on the lin 1IlI of Figure l; and

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a series of presses utilizing a common cooling unit for oil which may be delivered to one or more of the presses.

Referring to the structure shown in Figures 1 and 2, l0 denotes the frame of a press such as shown in the patent above referred to. i l designates the barrel, composed of a seriesof bars preferably arranged in circular series and held in lace with reference to each other and to the worms l2 (only one of which is s own) mounted upon a shaft I3. The bars II are held in position by heavy transversely extending spaced riblike members M, which are provided with semicircular seats to receive the bars, the ribs being held together by longitudinally extending pressure bars l which, in turn, are rigidly secured together in oppositely disposed pairs by threaded bolt-like members IS. The lowermost pair of longitudinall extending bars I5 rests upon guideways or tracks I! extending transversely of the base portion I0 only one of said tracks is shown (see Fig. 2).

The material is introduced into the barrel at the head end of the machine through a chute i8, which may be of any desired form (Fig. 1) The choke of the press may be of the type disclosed in Patent No. 1,752,054, dated March 25, 1930, or of any approved type which provides for adjustment.

The base of the frame I0 is formed into a trough IS in thelower portion of which is mounted a worm 2| which may be rotated to remove foots which may settle from the oil, said foots being carried outwardly of the press structure for further treatment or return to the feed chute for introduction into the press along with the material being fed thereto. Located in the lower portion of the base l0 beneath the trough l9 are chambers 22, 23, through which a cooling medium is circulated. This medium has the effect of cooling the oil in trough l9 by heat exchange through the chamber walls. The expressed oil may flow from the trough through a lateral connection or conduit 24 and into the lower portion of a hollow leg 25 which extends upwardl to a point above the press structure proper. Within this leg is housed a bucket elevator 26 driven by any suitable means (not shown). The buckets at the upper end of the elevator discharge through an opening 21 onto a rifile board 28 which forms the lower element of a conduit extending from 21 downwardly and terminating in line with the longitudinal axis of the press structure proper. The various depression or riiiles 29 of the board 28 are so formed and contoured as to secure a substantially even distribution of the cooled oil onto and over the underlying press elements.

The cover plate 3! is disposed in spaced relation to the rifile board 28, said board and plate being supported by the proximate edges of the upper portion of two cover elements, 32 and 33, which are supported upon the frame l0 and extend upwardly to each side and over the upper portion of the press structure.

It will be readily appreciated that any suitable cooling medium may be employed to chill and lower the temperature of the oil in the trough is, which cooled oil is picked up and carried to the riffle board and showered down upon the press barrel or shell. This has the effect of materially lowering the temperature of the shell and the associated elements and, consequently, lowers the temperature of the material being forced through the shell or barrel. The expressed oil not used in the cooling operation may be removed from trough 19 in any suitable manner.

Not only does the oil cool the press structure but it washes the foots from the exterior of the shell, keeping it clean and maintaining the passages between the shell bars free of accumulated foots, which otherwise would have a tendency to gum up and char thereon. Again, by reason of the fact that the material in the barrel is cooled, the proteins are not as fluid as they would ordinarily be under usual operating temperatures. Hence, the mass as a whole which is being forced through the press is not 50 fluid and, consequently, the material will not pass the choke quite so readily and greater pressure may be exerted without raising the temperature beyond the limit where optimum conditions obtain both as to the quantity and color of the oil. Furthermore, by reason of the higher pressures permissible at the lower temperatures, the cake which is extruded from the press has a very low oil content and is light in color.

It will be appreciated that instead of the elevator as shown in Fig. 2 for carrying the oil to the rifiie board, a pump may be employed.

In Fig. 3, a series of presses is indicated generally by H II, Il, which are comparable to the press barrel ll of Figs. 1 and 2. They are, of course, merely shown in a diagrammatic way, as are the other elements in this structure.

located above and dischargin upon each of the presses or barrels thereof is a rifile board, said boards being'denoted by 28*, 28 and 28, respectively. The oil which is gathered in the trough beneath each of thepress barrels may be drawn off through lateral branches 34, 34 and 34 which branches are valved and open into a main 35 connected with a pump 35. The outlet of the pump is connected to a pipe 31 which passes into a cooler 38 that may be of any approved form having the usual connection for a refrigerant. The cooled or chilled oil passes from the cooler 38 into a main 39 provided with valved branches having nozzles M, 4 I, and M, which overlie and discharge upon the respective rifile boards.

As stated above, the showing in this figure is merely diagrammatic and a greater or less number of press elements may be present, or a single press may be utilized in conjunction with the pump and the cooler. The cooling action of the oil is the same as that which obtains with the construction first described.

To illustrate the advantages of the apparatus herein described, it may be pointed out that when operating a press of the type disclosed at high capacity on soya beans without cooling the press barrel, the expressed 011 showed a color of 800 yellow and 340 red and the press was found to have a barrel temperature of 350 F. after removal of the foots. Also that at barrel bar temperatures of about 300 F. the material that is pressed out with the oil starts to darken and it is therefore essential that the barrel bars be kept at a temperature of approximately 300 F. or lower. The apparatus above described makes it possible to lower the temperature of the bars to 265 F. and maintain them at that temperature or lower. This lowering of the'temperature insures the production of an oil having the requisite color index.

The amount of cooling will obviously vary with the materials treated and also with the cooling medium used in the chambers 22 and 23 and in the cooler 38.

Where soya beans are being treated for the expulsion of oil, they will preferably be heated to approximately 270 F. prior to their entrance into the press.

While soya beans have been referred to specifically as the material being treated, it will be appreciated that the apparatus is capable of being utilized in connection with other proteinaceous oil bearing materials which it i desired to express. t

This application is a division of my application Serial No. 93,907, filed August 1, 1936, Patent No. 2,216,658, such division having been made pursuant to requirement of the Patent Office.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for expressing oil from oil bearing materials, the combination of a mechanical press comprising a barrel having openings for the passage of oil therefrom, and means located within the barrel for compressing the material; a housing surrounding the barrel in spaced relation thereto; means for collecting oil expressed from' the materials; means for cooling said oil; and means for showering at least a portion of such cooled oil onto the upper portion of the barrel, whereby the oil will flow over substantially the entire exterior surface of the barrel and the barrel temperature will be reduced.

2. In an apparatus for expressing oil from inaterial containing the same, the combination of a continuously operating mechanical press including a press barrel; a trough located below said press and designed to receive the expressed oil; means associated with said trough for cooling the oil therein; means comprising a conduit extending from the trough to a point abov the press barrel for conveying the oil to the upper portion of the press; a bucket elevator in said conduit; and means located adjacent the upper run of the bucket elevator for delivering the cooled oil from the conduit onto the exterior of the press barrel.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a continuously operating mechanical press designed to express oil from substances containing the same; a trough located beneath said press and into which the expressed oil is discharged and gathered; means for cooling said trough; a conduit extending outwardly from the trough and terminating in the lower end of a hollow leg; a bucket conveyer mounted in said leg; and a riffieboard in communication with the leg at the upper end thereof, said rifiie board delivering cooled oil onto the upper portion of the press, said oil serving to wash expressed solid matter from the press, ,as well as to cool the same.

4. In an apparatus for expressing oil from material containing the same, the combination of a continuously operatingmechanical' press including a press barrel with openings throughout sub stantially its entire surface for the escape of expressed oil; a trough located below said press and designed to receive the expressed oil; means for conveyin and showering .a portion at least of such expressed oil onto the upper portion of the press barrel, whence it flows over substantially the entire exterior surface of the barrel to remove solid matter therefrom; and means associated with the press for cooling all of theek- Dressed oil that is showered over i'the barrel, whereby the barrel temperature will be-reduced.

RAYMOND TUTTLEANDERSON. 

